Investigating factor analysis of emotional intelligence questionnaire among nursing, midwifery and emergency department students of Ilam University of Medical Sciences

Emotional intelligence is a set of abilities that enables the processing of information related to one’s own and others’ emotions. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the factor analysis and validation of an emotional intelligence questionnaire among nursing, midwifery, and emergency department students at Ilam University of Medical Sciences. In this descriptive-analytical study, 118 students from the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery at Ilam University of Medical Sciences were selected using stratified sampling. The study utilized a 90-item emotional intelligence questionnaire. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and confirmatory factor analysis were employed to assess the questionnaire’s validity and internal consistency. A scree plot was used to determine the number of factors. The adequacy of the sample size for factor analysis was evaluated using the KMO index and Bartlett’s test. Factor analysis revealed that the components of emotional intelligence consist of four independent factors: the first factor (accounting for 32.066% of the variance), the second factor (8.113%), the third factor (7.823%), and the fourth factor (7.140%). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the dimensions was 81%. The KMO index was estimated at 0.72, indicating sample size adequacy. The present study demonstrated that the emotional intelligence questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool for collecting information necessary to assess students’ emotional intelligence.